New York Chefs Move Beyond the City

The chef Leah Cohen will open her new restaurant, Piggyback Bar, in Jersey City.

Danny Ghitis for The New York Times

By TEJAL RAO

August 28, 2017

Ben Pollinger made his name as a chef in the grand kitchens of Manhattan, but all the while, he was living in Bergen County, driving into the city from New Jersey. Now, like so many other chefs who are looking for opportunity, lower occupancy costs and a chance to balance their personal and professional lives, Mr. Pollinger is working farther afield.

In November, he will open the Hill, next door to a farm in Closter, N.J., in a former neighborhood restaurant’s space, after a full cosmetic renovation and a replacement of most of the kitchen equipment.

Those expecting Mr. Pollinger to replicate the seafood-focused fine dining he was known for at Oceana, where he led the kitchen for a decade before leaving last year, may be surprised. The chef doesn’t plan to stick too strictly to any single cuisine, and though he will continue to cook seafood, he said both the food and setting would be far more casual.

The Hill’s menu will also include plenty of vegetables and meat, as well as game birds, venison and boar in the fall. Mr. Pollinger said the restaurant would have the simple, warm look of a farmhouse, with no tablecloths in the dining room. “I’m not looking to recreate a New York City restaurant in the suburbs,” he said.

Farther south, in Jersey City, the chef Leah Cohen will open her second restaurant, Piggyback Bar, with her husband and partner, Ben Byruch. Much as she did at her Manhattan restaurant Pig & Khao, Ms. Cohen plans to draw on flavors from all over Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, where her mother comes from.

But at Piggyback Bar, she will package these flavors loosely and casually, in yellow curry crab cakes, mapo chili dogs and pulled pork sandwiches served with kimchi. Many of the dishes will be ideal for accompanying several rounds of drinks. A team from the Lower East Side bar Black Crescent will be in charge of those.

Beef tartare at Piggyback Bar. The menu will draw on flavors from all over Southeast Asia.

Danny Ghitis for The New York Times

Before the West Village restaurant Recette closed last year, regulars introduced its chef, Jesse Schenker, to a couple looking to open a restaurant. With that couple, Claudia and Michael Taglich, Mr. Schenker will open 2 Spring in October, just blocks from the water in Oyster Bay, on Long Island.

The wine cellar will be stocked with more than 1,500 bottles, and the kitchen will work with seasonal produce from the North Fork. Mr. Schenker, who recently moved to Oyster Bay with his family, will dream up a new menu for 2 Spring — but the salt cod fritters he was known for at Recette will stay on it.